Friday, December 19, 2008

My little one had a paper come home from school and we were to mark which cookies we could bring in. There were latkes from Israel, Mexican Wedding Cookies from Mexico, Windmill Cookies from Holland, Snickerdoodles from Germany and Gingerbread Cookies from USA. It's been a few years since I've made Gingerbread men cookies, so I choose to make those, rather than buy them, of course!

These are also part of Susan's Christmas cookie blog event. Check out part 1 and part 2 so far!

The recipe I used came from Baking Bites. I really liked the mild flavor of them and I thought they'd be perfect for little ones. I baked mine at 350' for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses, water and vanilla, then gradually add in flour mixture until a smooth dough forms. Divide dough into two or three pieces (dough will be quite soft), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until firm.

Preheat oven to 375F.For softer cookies:On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice (2-3″ gingerbread men are ideal!) to cut dough. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size of cookie cutter. Cookies should be slightly firm to the touch at the edges. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For crispier cookies:On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under 1/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice (2-3″ gingerbread men are ideal!) to cut dough. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size of cookie cutter. Cookies should be slightly firm to the touch at the edges and will be lightly browned. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.When cool, decorate with icing.

Makes about 30-40 gingerbread men, depending on size of cookie cutters used and whether you make them thick or thin.

drying out of reach

This Royal icing has meringue powder in it instead of egg whites. It makes it safe for little ones to eat.

Pillsbury sent me a care package full of goodies and I am offering to let one of my readers win a neat little set of 10 Mini Holiday Pie Cutters from Crate & Barrel and a CD ROM with Pillsbury recipes and such on it.

So, all you have to do is comment below with your name/email, telling me what you want from Santa!

The fine print:-Open to USA readers only please-I will choose a random winner using Random.org and blog who it is-I'll also email you and comment to you on your blog-You will have 3 days to respond or I'll choose another winner-I verify your email/click-able name, blog posts and button placement on blogs-If you do not comment with a way I can contact you, your comment will be deleted and you'll have to re-comment with such info if you'd like a chance to winThank you!(I can not guarantee this to arrive before Christmas.)

I have never seen more professional looking cookies than those gingerbread cookies of yours! I also love how they are drying on the air hockey table! I often have the problem of where to let them dry after I make so many! I should have thought to e-mail you, you are the QUEEN! I am grateful that we still keep in touch after so long! Thank you for putting up with me at Radford!

From Santa, I want enough money to pay for the deductible I owe after a recent car accident I had a few days ago. I can't believe it happened during Xmas season. I feel so bummed despite the fact that my mom bought me a KitchenAid Stand Mixer for the holiday :(.

These look awesome, by the way, your gingerbread men are the best I have EVER seen. They look too good to eat! I am asking santa for a breadmaker this year! I made bread once in my life, and it took me over 6 hours to make, but it was wonderful. I am thinking a breadmaker might be helpful!

Answer to your ???...adding water with the chicken will just dilute your stock. It's fine to do that. I always add about a cup of water in with my chicken when I do them in the crockpot. If I didn't add water, then I would dilute out the stock a little with water before freezing it. So either way, it's diluted a bit :)